Aokiji, Want to Become My.......(8/10)

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Even though he had never seen the Celestial Dragon on the cruise ship, Aokiji could still guess the identity of the head hanging on the mast.

"What a reckless guy!"

Seeing the Celestial Dragon's head prominently displayed on the mast even made Aokiji, an Admiral of the Marine Headquarters, break into a cold sweat.

Quickly speeding up to the cruise ship, Aokiji saw Sanders sitting on the edge of the boat.

"Long time no see, Kuzan."

"Oh, I guess I should call you Aokiji now!"

"That old guy Sengoku sure has a twisted sense of humor. If I were still in the Marine, I wonder what animal nickname they'd give me."

Sanders sat on the edge of the ship with his legs crossed, his feet dangling above the sea. He supported his upper body with one hand while holding a bottle of wine in the other. It was some fine wine he had looted from the Celestial Dragon's storeroom—definitely better than anything he had drunk before. Those pigs really knew how to indulge themselves.

"So, it's really you!"

"And you didn't run away?!"

Aokiji wasn't surprised to see Sanders. On his way there, Fleet Admiral Sengoku had already told him that the one likely responsible for attacking the Celestial Dragon was Sanders.

"Why would I run? I was waiting for you guys."

"But I thought it would be that perverted old man Kizaru coming," Sanders said with a smile.

Perverted old man? Aokiji's mouth twitched at the description.

"Looks like I disappointed you, Sanders."

Aokiji looked at his former, excellent junior and couldn't help but sigh inwardly. After being locked in Impel Down for three years, Sanders had grown strong enough to break out. If he had remained in the Marine, how far would he have progressed?

Aokiji knew why Sanders had been expecting Borsalino (Kizaru). After all, it was Kizaru and Sengoku who had captured Sanders more than three years ago. Kizaru once joked that if he hadn't shown up, Sanders might have actually escaped using the speed of his Rumble-Rumble Fruit.

Three long years in a lonely prison—no doubt Sanders bore a deep grudge against Kizaru.

"Well, you should've waited for him in Impel Down then," Aokiji replied.

"True. If I had known Sengoku only sent Kizaru to support them, I would've waited, just to give him a good beating before I left."

Sanders spoke seriously. Back then, he had chosen to flee immediately, worried that more than one Admiral would come from Marine Headquarters. He wasn't sure how many Admirals were stationed at the time. If two had arrived and Kizaru managed to stall him, he wouldn't have been able to escape.

The Marine Headquarters was too close to Impel Down, and reinforcements would've come quickly. So, to be safe, Sanders had decided to run first.

"Looks like you have a lot of confidence in your strength, Sanders," Aokiji said, squinting after hearing Sanders talk about beating Kizaru.

"I'm alright. I haven't had a proper fight with any of you Marine Admirals, but I have some confidence," Sanders replied casually, finishing off the wine in his bottle. Then, he changed the subject:

"How about those slaves?"

"They ran," Aokiji shrugged, not at all concerned about revealing that he had let them escape.

"Tsk. What do you think when you see those people, Aokiji?" Sanders clicked his tongue and asked with a smile.

It was fortunate for the slaves that Aokiji had come. If it had been another Admiral, they probably wouldn't have gotten away. If it had been Akainu, he might have incinerated them all in one fiery blast.

"What are you trying to say?" Aokiji's face remained calm.

Sanders grinned, stood up on the cruise ship, and extended his right hand toward Aokiji.

"Do you want to become my crew member, Aokiji?"

Among the current Admirals, Akainu was extreme—he would unhesitatingly kill or arrest any criminal pirate, even if it meant harming his own comrades. Kizaru was ambiguous but followed the World Government's orders without question. Only Aokiji harbored a sense of kindness. The destruction of Ohara had shaken his belief in justice.

Originally, Aokiji had followed a doctrine of "burning justice," but after the Ohara incident, his belief in the Marine's version of justice wavered, eventually turning into the "lazy justice" he adhered to now.

"Huh?" Sanders' words made Aokiji blink in disbelief.

"You're joking, right? I'm a Marine Admiral!"

"It's not impossible, Aokiji," Sanders replied. "I was also a Marine. If three years ago my adoptive father hadn't been killed by a Celestial Dragon, I'd be a Marine Vice Admiral by now, and in the future, I would've become a Marine Admiral just like you."

"It's only natural," Sanders continued. "Look at the cruise ship beneath my feet. You can't imagine how luxurious it is inside. The wealth inside this one ship alone could fund the daily operations of a Marine base."

"And this is just one ship."

"These are the kinds of scum the Marines protect."

"Those pigs in Mariejois burn through enough wealth each year to double the Marine's forces. Imagine, Aokiji, if the Marine's strength doubled, how many pirates would vanish? How many more civilians would live peacefully under the protection of the Marine?"

"Look at those slaves. Some of them may be pirates who made mistakes, but most of them are just civilians. They were captured and turned into slaves simply because they looked good, becoming pets treated worse than dogs."

"A person could be walking down the street and be killed just for looking at those pigs from a distance."

"Who are they? Someone's husband, someone's daughter, someone's wife."

"Is the current Marine upholding justice?"

"No! It's merely maintaining the rule of the World Government and the Celestial Dragons."

Sanders' passionate speech rang out.

In truth, Sanders didn't really care about those civilians. Whether they lived or died was none of his business, as long as he wasn't the one killing them. He had felt some sympathy for the slaves earlier, but he wasn't about to act like a babysitter and help them survive. He had given them some supplies and let them escape, but whether they lived or died was their problem—not his.

As a traveler from another world, he didn't feel much attachment to this one. Everything he said and did was aimed at recruiting Aokiji. Sanders probably cared less about protecting civilians and maintaining world stability than Aokiji did.

But as someone who had received a modern education, Sanders wasn't about to oppress civilians. In a world where strength ruled, power brought everything. When he eventually formed his pirate crew, countless countries and islands would willingly offer treasures for his protection.

As long as he demanded less than the Heavenly Tribute the World Government collected and ensured that those under his rule lived stable lives, those people would be grateful to him.

The islands under the protection of the World Government were just a portion of the pirate world. Many chaotic islands didn't even have the opportunity to seek protection from great pirates. That was the reality of this world.

Sanders' words made Aokiji break out in a cold sweat.

"You... What are you trying to do? Overthrow the world?" Aokiji shouted, hearing the undisguised ambition in Sanders' speech.

For a moment, Aokiji wondered what the world would be like if the Marine's power truly doubled. But he quickly shook off the thought.

In his eyes, Sanders was just another madman trying to overturn the world—no different from the Four Emperors.

The only difference was that Sanders was younger and far more ambitious.

"Come on, Aokiji, join my crew, and I'll show you everything I'm going to do," Sanders said with a smile.

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T/N:

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